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A glimmer of hope in protecting our climate-critical forests

As news of climate breakdown continues to roll in – with the Met Office just weeks ago announcing a likely 1.5c rise from global warming – the impact on our planet seems to show no sign of slowing.

And somewhere along the way, we’ve also seemed to forget the
importance of protecting our forests to help slow this damage. But there may be
a glimmer of hope yet.

Just a few weeks ago, a provincial government of the tropical
paradise of the Solomon Islands banned new logging operations across some of
its luscious rainforests, the ones which line the beaches of the island sold to
us as a tourist dream.

Less than four short months ago, we at Global
Witness revealed that the islands’ climate-critical forest was being
harvested at a scale 19 times over its sustainable limit, with much of that
logging at high risk of being illegal.

This means the Solomon Islands’ forest is disappearing at an
alarming speed, with its tree cover loss
tripling in recent years. If logging continues at this speed, the
islands’ Finance Ministry has predicted that the Solomons’ natural forest will
be exhausted
by 2036.

This will hit the country’s environment with devastating and
irreparable impact. Our global climate, already pushed to danger point, will
suffer the added burden of losing more of the world’s carbon sinks.

And this activity doesn’t just drain the natural environment
– it impacts negatively on local communities too. Logging companies often fail
to make good on promises, destroying food and water sources local people rely
on. There’s a pretty high risk that they don’t pay the taxes they owe the
Solomon Islands either.

Our voice joins an alarm bell ringing for some time, with
the people of the Solomon Islands speaking out against this exploitation of
their forests for years. Finally, it seems like this long campaign might be
paying off: after a wave of local petitions, the Central Province of the Island
has announced a ban on new logging operations.

This
could be the welcome start of a systematic change in forest management on the
island. Ahead of the upcoming election, other provincial governments – as well
as national powers – could be making good on some of their pledges, and cashing
in on a local willingness to look for a new economic model which is not dependent
on logging.

Why are we still cautious?

While this is a welcome move, it must be treated with
caution. The ban aims to stop new logging activities, but doesn’t address those
already rampant in the area. It halts the break on potential new illegalities,
but doesn’t charge those who are responsible for previous acts.

There is much more that needs to be done by countries that
consume illegal and unsustainable timber – and China is a particularly
important example.

Despite being recently celebrated for its efforts to reduce pollution
at home, China’s environmental actions with other countries are having a more
devastating impact on the planet.

While it has a ban on logging in its own natural forest,
China imports vast amount of wood for manufacturing. Currently, it does not
require companies to exclude illegal timber from the wood they import. And this
is worrying in this particular case, because most of the unsustainable and high
risk timber coming from the Solomon Islands goes to China.

That illegal timber doesn’t just get used in the Chinese
consumer market. Wood products made in China are also consumed in markets like
the EU, where companies could be punished by laws like the EU Timber Regulation
for importing illegal wood. Without Chinese companies carrying out any checks, illegal
wood could also be entering global supply chains.

So while we celebrate this ban on new logging operations, we
call on all countries to strengthen and enforce import controls against illegal
timber, to help stop the reckless destruction of climate-critical forests we
all rely on. Let’s drive forward urgent protection for our forests, and secure a
better future for ourselves and our planet.